It's with Great Pleasure that we Announce the Winners of our 2015 Annual Australian Coach of the Year. This has been our biggest year with 180 nominations for 26 Coaches from all over Australia. The majority of our nominated coaches currently work as CrossFit Coaches and it's great to see a combination of owner coaches and coaches be nominated by their members.

We'd like to thank every single athlete who took time out to nominate their coach and put forward compelling cases. We had an amazing but diffiuclt time assessing all the entries and finding our winners. Special thanks to Siobhan from CrossFit U in the Anything else we shold know category who gave us some movie advice "The new mad Max movie is really cool. Maybe you should check it out :)" Thanks Siobhan we might just do that.

So without any further adieu here are the winners and complete list of nominated coaches. We've also added in some of the entries under each of the coaches, so you can see that there are some amazing people out there going above and beyond their duty.

To these coaches, we salute you.

Full List of Nominated Coaches

Tricia Muller

Ash jones

Steve Leisham

Sarah Grounds

Paris Litte

Kym Newton

Lisa Hetheringto

Lauren tabone

Alex Cheong

Barney Mercer

Andrew Rosa

Siobhan Mooney

Eric Blyth-Elvin

Adam Newton

Terri Charles

Pippa SHAW

Lockie Jeffrey

Luke Bryan

Marie Aubrey Villaceran

Peter Nguyen

JP cauchi

Dan 'Shooter' McGavern

Amy BOWE

Clair Campbell

Ash Bedford

Edd Olivares

Ian Campbell

Special Mentions

Both Special Mentions will be sent a copy of our Level 1 Injury Prevention and Management Coaches Course valued at $400

Barney Mercer - CrossFit Wolfe Den

and

Trcia Muller - CrossFit Mordy

Barney Mercer - Wolfe Den CrossFit

"His great coaching started my love for crossfit. He helps every single member down to the finest details! He's friendly, helpful and makes workouts great fun and enjoyable."

"Barney is just amazing!!! He is incredibly supportive and encouraging and always has time to work with whatever standard you are at. I recently injured my knee outside of crossfit and since coming back he has made sure I am safe and that I have a modified workout so I can still join in. He also teaches both my boys kids crossfit and they think he is a hero! I work at a large cancer hospital where Barneys stepdad has been getting care for bowel cancer. Most evenings Barney is up during the night to help his mum care for his stepdad but still comes in to coach is all every class.

He has also just started to help his stepdad recover with gentle exercises to build his strength working with his physio. Barney cares on every level about everyone he trains with and he is inspirational."

"He has the patience of a saint!

"Barney is a great Crossfit coach in that he provides a wealth of knowledge on lifting techniques and other work out moves but is particularly good with post workout stretching and mobility! He always encourages everyone to push themselves to achieve their goals depending on their level and is patient and has a great sense of humour!"

Tricia Muller - CrossFit Mordy

"Tricia (Trish) focuses on technique first, ensuring we all understand how proper setup and form will aid development from the start, and is the best way to mitigate injuries. She provides variety in all WoD's every week, and when required caters for those that are looking for specific goals/challenges by offering a change in the normal programming."

"Tricia has a unique ability to consider every member of the group as an individual while providing a holistic, comprehensive program for everyone. She is able to quickly adjust WODs to compensate for injury, ability and skill level.

When I started with Crossfit Mordy Tricia ensured a strong focus on technique, preventing members from lifting heavier if there were risk of poor form that could result in injury, as individuals develop skills she is supportive when it comes to adding weight and learning new skills helping individuals make new personal bests. You can always count on Tricia to respond to messages at any time of day regarding anything from nutrition and exercise advice, guiding rehabilitation management to a friendly message just to check in. She's a positive role model, an inclusive team leader, a supportive coach and simply the best."

"Trish is the best coach in Australia because she will take the time to work with you one on one or if there's anything you want to work on to improve or goals you have set for yourself and want to achieve them. She takes the time out of her busy schedule to do that. I can say that I've trained at gym's and I've never had anyone help me or put in so much time and effort into my training before and to make sure I achieve my goals. Trish is very dedicated, determined and passionate about her coaching and helping everyone achieve their goals. She is about helping motivate people to increase their health and wellbeing to achieve success in all areas. I am very honoured and inspired to have Trish as my coach."

3rd Place

Eric will also win a copy of our Level 1 Injury Prevention and Management Coaches Course valued at $400 and we're going to ship over a couple of our Sceptres for the team at Croydon to use with their mobility.

Eric Blyth-Elvin - CrossFit Croydon

"Eric is an amazing coach who has an extensive knowledge about the fitness industry and how to best obtain results from your training. He is extremely kind and very open hearted making him the best person to open up to about workout concerns, injuries and general life issues. He listens and takes in everything you say and shows excessive consideration in regards to discomforts and insecurities about your training. He is a very positive person and makes you feel like you can do anything, if given enough time."

"Always encouraging, full of knowledge and always willing to put in the hard work with every client , even holds my little boy while I'm training if he gets upset, amazing coach"

"Eric is an amazing coach! Not only is he patient, kind, encouraging and knowledgeable but he is so supportive everyone feels welcome the moment you walk in the door.
This sport we do is not easy, Eric never makes you feel judged if you have to scale a WOD or modify for injury or even illness. He makes it possible to walk into every class and complete a grueling, satisfying work out without fear of judgement or hurting yourself.

It is very obvious that not only does he bring a lot of knowledge about anatomy and the body, but constantly seeks to research new information, and this translates directly into us being coached with the best, safest methods.
He takes pride in us and himself and it makes him not only a world class coach, but a world class friend.

He will always make time for our concerns and to provide further instruction, his teaching skills are phenomenal and make you feel encouraged to make bigger lifts and move safely."

2nd Place

Edd wins a copy of our Level 1 Injury Prevention and Management Coaches Course accredited with Fitness Australia, valued at $400. We'll also be sending a few Sceptres down to help prevent more injuries at CrossFit Cragieburn

Edd Olivares - CrossFit Craigieburn

"Edd is an all round amazing coach who has a wide range of knowledge and experience in the fitness industry. Edd takes the time to coach one on one with each and every athlete to ensure that they are getting the most out of their training. He is a great guy and easy to chat to about absolutely anything and everything. He thoroughly listens to our questions and answers it with full knowledge. Edd is extremely supportive in all we do, he will go out of his way to stay back and help us to a full extent. Always putting others before himself. His attitude towards not only crossfit but everyday life is contagious! Love have Edd as my coach! He is going to take athlete places, they never thought they'd be able to go."

"I was out of crossfit for over 3 months due to a back injury. Prior to my injury i had done crossfit for 15 months. I had given up on alot of things and pretty much stopped crossfit. It was the longest time i had stopped. I then found another box and enquired. I was new and knew noone except the same knowledge as everyone else and that's crossfit. Edd was also a new coach in the box. I addressed my injury and he helped me out with alternative movement's to help my injury. Each week came by and Edd helped me with good stretches. About 9 weeks later i was hitting my 1RM PBs getting a 150kg deadlift 110kg backsquat 60kg OHS 80kg benchpress 82kg split jerk and others. He is the best because he focuses on everyone in every class going through each struggle and ways to make it easier or making it a progression movement! Edd is always willing to help and go out of his way to coach other's especially when he's not coaching. I don't think he realises the hard work he does. I do appreciate his advice and support. I did get my first kipping pull up with coach Edd and that was a big deal. Coach Edd is an amazing coach with so much talent and commitment he shows support to everyone and i appreciate his guidance! Pick coach Edd to share the spirit of what a great coach of the year has yet to offer. He won't disappointed.

"Edd is exceptional at helping with injuries and limitations. Not only scales and adjusts workouts but also designs a plan to help get you through the injury/limitation and back on track."

1st Place

Steve wins a copy of our Level 1 Injury Prevention and Management Coaches Course valued at $400 and a 2 Hour Workshop delivered to his members by Evolutio valued at $500.

Steve Leishman - CrossFit North Carlton

"My coach is not only our coach; he is our mentor, our leader and our teacher. Every day he is helping us grow as individuals and encouraging us that hard work really does pay off and excellence can be achieved.

My coach leads by example, he is dedicated and determined, he motivates and listens, he builds character, he creates challenges and develops us into the best athletes we can possibly be.

I have never had a coach as committed to our "community" as I have in Coach Steve. He takes the time for each and every one of his members to seek out their goals and aims, and goes above and beyond in doing all that he can for us to achieve them, and then some, a lot of this done outside of class, in his own time, day or night, no questions asked. To see the passion and the drive in my coach whenever I come into the gym makes me want to push myself harder, to be fitter and stronger, and I know it is with his support I have seen results, some I never thought possible.

To have the belief in all of us like our coach does, along with his fuel to light our fires, in my opinion, makes my coach the BEST in Australia."

"I was Steve's first PT client at Fitness First. During that time Steve has trained me my fitness has gone from strength to strength especially on the rower! Steve has encouraged me to change my diet and to eat healthily. Steve has also encouraged me to return to Touch Rugby and to do refereeing. For my age 53 I'm able to match the younger players for fitness."

"he is extremely keen in guiding everyone he works with in achieving there goals. With his experience and knowledge of the field , along with his positive attitude and tremendous support and motivation , his is the best coach we could have ."

"Steve shuns the hype of crossfit and focuses really hard and selflessly on individual needs. He is super hard working and is constantly giving more in what ever way he can; from advice to additional workshops or just genuinely caring about what your issues are and where you need to go. He also takes a balanced approach to performance, ensuring that maximum injury free training days is always the goal and never forcing you to 1RM your way to an injury if it's not your day. In the year since I joined he has transformed me mentally and physically and is pretty much the most overall solid dude I know."

"Steve's dedication to his pupil's is second to none and this is shown due to being the sole coach for the entire week's timetable at our box for over 2 years. He legitimately strives to get the best from us."

"He has an extensive sports background and a definite passion for seeing his athletes achieve! He puts the time in for each and every member, ensuring the basics are well and truly nailed, before proceeding. He is approachable when you are unable to do the prescribed work out and will give you options."

2015 Annual Australian Coach of the Year